The Shadow Line is a seven-part British television drama miniseries produced by Company Pictures/Eight Rooks Ltd/Baby Cow/CinemaNX production for BBC Two. It stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christopher Eccleston, Rafe Spall, Lesley Sharp, Kierston Wareing, Antony Sher and Stephen Rea. The series was written, directed and produced by Hugo Blick.
The first episode was screened on 12 April 2011 at BAFTA's Princess Anne Theatre in Piccadilly, and was followed by a special question and answer session with Hugo Blick and Christopher Eccleston.
Broadcasting of the series started on 5 May 2011 and finished on 16 June 2011. It is currently available on Blu-ray and DVD and for purchase on Amazon Prime.
Contents
Synopsis
The Shadow Line is about a murder investigated by both sides of the line – police and criminals – and the opposing methods they use to solve it. But the real line is the morality within each character and how far they will go before they cross it. It is also about a secret so monumental that, if it were ever revealed, the entire nation might collapse.
Production
The series is produced by Company Pictures/Eight Rooks Ltd/Baby Cow/CinemaNX/Isle of Man Film for BBC Two. It was mainly shot in the Isle of Man, with some sequences filmed in London.
Music
The theme music is an adapted version of the song "Pause" written by Emily Barker and performed by Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo, and made to fit the title sequence scored by Martin Phipps, designed by Peter Anderson Studio
Cast
Chiwetel Ejiofor as Detective Inspector (DI) Jonah Gabriel: Amnesiac detective with a bullet in his head who leads the investigation into Harvey Wratten's death.
Christopher Eccleston as Joseph Bede: Organised consultant for Harvey Wratten's empire. He has set up a florist business as a front for the drug dealing organisation.
Antony Sher as Peter Glickman: Wratten's former partner; now on the run.
Stephen Rea as Gatehouse: Elusive primary antagonist notable for his mannerly persuasiveness. Despite handling large sums of cash he is not driven by financial gain but by "control" alone.
Rafe Spall as Jay Wratten: Psychotic nephew of Harvey Wratten; eager to find his killer.
Kierston Wareing as Detective Sergeant (DS) Lia Honey: Gabriel's detective partner.
Richard Lintern as Detective Chief Superintendent (DCS) Richard Patterson: Gabriel's chain-smoking superior; wanted Gabriel take charge of the Wratten case personally.
Eve Best as Petra Mayler: Peter Glickman's former mistress.
Lesley Sharp as Julie Bede: Joseph Bede's wife; suffering from early onset Alzheimer's.
Tobias Menzies as Ross McGovern: Persistent journalist who is getting too close to the truth.
Robert Pugh as Bob Harris: Harvey Wratten's business rival; now working with Joseph Bede.
Malcolm Storry as Maurice Crace: Joseph Bede's right-hand-man and veteran associate of the Wratten empire.
Plot
Drugs baron Harvey Wratten and his unstable nephew, Jay (Rafe Spall), are released from prison on a Royal Pardon (which is a rarity). On the drive from prison Harvey is shot execution-style while seated in the back seat of his car. Corrupt copper Sergeant Foley (David Schofield) and his partner find Wratten's body and alert Joseph Bede (Christopher Eccleston), Wratten’s placid and gentle henchman. Jay has already shown his true colours by attacking an associate of Bob Harris’s (Robert Pugh) in a lift for suggesting that they earned their freedom by naming names.
Before his arrest Harvey had Joseph set up a legitimate floral business for a clean "line" to smuggle drugs through. After Harvey is murdered, Joseph discovers that Harvey owed £1,000,000 to a Turkish drugs importer, Bulkat Babur (Stanley Townsend), for the shipment that was seized during his arrest. So Joseph proposes a new deal to the Turk; use his new business to earn enough to cover what is owed plus what he personally invested to start the business and provide care for his rapidly deteriorating wife and then he's out. So Joseph and Babur strike a deal.
The Wratten murder case is given to DI Jonah Gabriel (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who has just returned to work with a bullet lodged in his brain after a bungled undercover job left his partner dead. He has lost all memory of the event. No sooner has the investigation begun than Gabriel finds a case containing hundreds of thousands of pounds hidden in his own home.
Gabriel believes Harvey knew his killer because Wratten had opened the car window. So Gabriel and colleague DS Lia Honey (Kierston Wareing) look for the car driver, petty crook Andy Dixon (Tobi Bakare), to find out what he knows but he is on the run. Jay threatens Andy's mother to find him and then a mysterious man called Gatehouse (Stephen Rea) shows up. His calm, soothing demeanour fools Andy's mother into thinking he can be trusted. After sleeping on the street for a couple of days Andy phones his mother (Sharon D. Clarke) to ask what he should do. She tells him to avoid Jay and the police and she calls Gatehouse. Just as Jay and Gabriel are running toward Andy in the park, Gatehouse calls and instructs him where to go.
Sitting together in his car, Gatehouse persuades Andy Dixon to meet Jay and tell him he "messed up" and that he heard his uncle's killer say "Bob Harris says ‘hello’”. Gatehouse suspects Andy may have seen more and shoots him and his family, making it look as if the young chauffeur has done the deed. Patterson (Richard Lintern), Gabriel's superior, is ready to wrap the case up and call it quits but Gabriel is not convinced the story is legit so Patterson allows him two weeks to solve the case.
Reception
The first episode received mixed reviews. The plot was praised by James Walton of The Daily Telegraph, who felt the acting to be too restrained. Reviews for the final episode were much more positive. The themes received particular praise. Other reviews noted it to be flamboyant in an almost theatrical sense but ultimately praised the series. The Telegraph continued to negatively review the series, claiming the final episode was too unbelievable to be viewed with sincerity. The series was ranked the second best series of 2011 by television magazine Radio Times. The A.V. Club praised the show, claiming it "really nails the big beats in an effective manner" and expressed admiration for the "thrilling action sequence" that occurred in each episode.
Factual basis
The method of drug smuggling described in the series reflected that used by the "Flowers Gang".
International broadcast
In the United States the series was acquired by Audience Network and started airing on 19 February 2012.
Germany. Broadcasting started at Wednesday, 16 November 2011, 8:15 pm on RTL Crime. The series finale aired on 4 January 2012.
Denmark. Series was broadcast late Sunday evenings already at autumn of 2011 on the prime national channel (commercial free) DR1. It was also re-aired a year later at the same channel.
Sweden. Broadcasting started at Friday, 16 March 2012, 10:15 pm at secondary national channel (commercial free) SVT2.
Australia. Broadcasting started on Friday, 23 March 2012 at 9:30 pm on ABC1, and was re-run starting from September 2014.
New Zealand. Broadcasting concluded mid March 2012 on SOHO.
Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. Broadcasting started on Friday, 2 August 2013 on Orbit Showtime Network.